Visible Project Award

On the 14th of December, the 2013 Visible Award, in its second edition, was assigned to the project The Silent University, initiated by the artist Ahmet Ögüt in 2012.

On the 14th of December, the 2013 Visible Award, in its second edition, was assigned to the project The Silent University, initiated by the artist Ahmet Ögüt in 2012. The jury took the form of a public event at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

The Silent University is an autonomous knowledge exchange platform by and for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. It is led by a group of lecturers, consultants and research fellows. Each group contributes to the programme in different ways, which include course development, specific research on key themes as well as personal reflections on what it means to be a refugee and asylum seeker. This platform has been presented using the format of an academic program.

The Silent University wants to address and reactivate the knowledge of the participants and make the exchange process mutually beneficial by inventing alternative currencies, in place of money or free voluntary service. The Silent University’s aim is to challenge the idea of silence as a passive state, and explore its powerful potential through performance, writing, and group reflection.

The 25.000 euros prize will be used to implement the existing branches of the University in London, Stockholm, and Paris, as well as to start up a fourth branch in Berlin.

The invited members of the jury, chaired by Charles Esche (Van Abbemuseum director and Sao Paulo Biennial chief curator), were Tania Bruguera (artist, New York), Jeanne Van Heeswijk (artist, Rotterdam), Koyo Kouho (curator, Artistic Director of Raw Material Company, Dakar), Nikos Papastergiadis (contemporary social-cultural studies professor, Sydney), and Michelangelo Pistoletto (artist, Artistic Director of Cittadellarte, Biella). A seventh member of the jury was represented by the audience, of about 40 people, that took part in the event, and voted to designate the winner from four finalists who were selected by the jury after an open debate with the public.

The ten shortlisted projects were: Sammy Baloji, Kumbuka (Congo); Beta Local, From-Tool-to-Tool! (Puerto Rico); Mabe Bethonico, Museum of Public Concerns (Brazil); Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, One Dollar (Cambodia); Beatrice Catanzaro, Bait Al Karama (Palestina); Fernando García-Dory, Paese Nuovo / New Country – Borgate (Italy); Inkanyiso (Zanele Muholi), Oui Twenty/20 (South Africa); Ahmet Ögüt, The Silent University (Turkey); The Propeller Group, Christ the King of Bling (Vietnam); Ruangrupa, The Gerobak Bioskop (Cinema Cart) Network (Indonesia).